A Brief Shift in Focus

Intro: 

Don Henley The End of Innocence

So, I did have several ideas about this post, which
-- by whatever course of fortune were mostly
wiped out today by  my listening to the following
interview:

Robert Reich -   The Common Good


Whatever topic I was trying to get at, I felt a lot of
it was covered perhaps more clearly and directly
than the direction my thoughts were taking me.


So it is very interesting, I thought, the many interesting
points addressed in the interview but also
the topic is a title for a new book with the same name.

So he addresses this issue of the common good as
well as a connection to an evolving sense of morality
in our  cultural conversation. And clearly he presents
an important concept in that notion that morality
is ---- changing, and becoming broader in meaning ----
in our culture.  Well, we can only hope in fact this is true.

And so this might as well be as good a time as any for this:

Prayer for America

OThou kind Lord!  This gathering is turning to Thee.  These hearts are radiant with Thy love.  These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of Thy glad-tidings.  O God!  Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious.  Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world.  O God!  This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy.  Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal. 

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

copied from this location:  Baha'i Prayers

Sovereignty stuff and other stuff

This is one of my favorite kind of subject, stuff and other stuff,
so I'll jump into that with, And so,,,,

On this subject, we have to inquire if sovereignty begins with either
the individual or God, then, well, how is it possible for a
"sovereign nation " to oppress its citizens.

This is a very good question and I suspect it is a question which
has encouraged many  arguments, but I really have to
suggest, that may be aside the point of how can that be possible?
What is the mechanism in our social structures which allow this
kind of thing to occur?  What human behaviors are we looking
for which allow for this situation?

Well, there is no doubt about it happening because we only have
to reflect on quite a bit of historical record that suggests it has
been an event which occurs with some significant frequency
and beyond that we have only to reflect on the significantly strong
suggestion that national sovereignty exists in fact to protect
the citizens, to a very great degree. 

So we have created organizations to protects us which in many cases
end up oppressing us in various ways.

This is an argument against creating international control on
national organizations, since that would create perhaps a
greater potential for oppressive behaviors.  This is also in
accord with an argument from reducing the " power " in
national organizations as well.  I am not particularly encouraging
this argument because it really doesn't get to the heart of the
issue about the specific behavior which allows this situation
to develop or persist.

Now we are facing considerable difficulties I believe as
a result of these kinds of forces and so figuring this
out is of serious concern for the present.

So I just want to go back to what I have previously suggested
that sovereignty begins with the individual and ideally will
radiate from that point so that the individual then might
anticipate some attitudes and effect radiating back at
more expanding levels.  This would suggest that local organizations
are key in preventing larger organizations from implementing or
contemplating such efforts or implementing oppressive
activities.

And of course we have the highly significant issue that there may
be more that one perspective on what those " oppressive " actions
or behaviors might involve.  So that means that for example
two groups may both believe that the measures they suggest will
" reduce " these kinds of oppressive actions but that may
strongly disagree about what actions need to be taken, ending
in the situation that they find each other to be the actual ' cause ',
now of these oppression s.  Yikes.   Difficult.  In a way you
might call it " fun with mirrors ".

At any rate this is an intriguing but complex issue,
which may need further examination and inquiry.
And maybe you can call it " fun with mirrors ".

Working Together and/or Being Together

So, I seem to off on a lot of tangents, can I find my way back to the
point.  One thing I am pretty grateful about is, getting into this issue
of Sovereignty/sovereignty - and to be honest I would not have gotten
into it without a spell-checker.  It's really not an easy word to spell.


Someday, I'd like to just focus on that topic, but I think I have at least
succeeded in suggesting that there is a strong connected between
morality and sovereignty.  Although I may not have distinctly proven
that these two topic are intimately connected, I believe that after a
certain amount of reflection this seems quite evident.

I want to discuss another topic which is ,,, the idea of working together.
Now, in a way, this idea is almost the definition of the human race, and
also, in a certain way, the idea of sovereignty seems tied into it as well,
as for example the fairly well known country called; United States
or maybe the United States ( ? _, ) which suggests that all these
States are working together.

I also think that in order to work together, you need to " be " together.
Of course, what does that all mean? Being together.  Well, I think
it means just getting along, spending time with each other, and
many things similar  to those ideas.

So the big question is, and has always been the big question,
?                          CAN WE DO THAT                                 ?

Perilous & Pyramids

Mostly people think about pyramids and mysterious, but
this is a different thing, by perilous and I'm referring to the
present.

So I'll start with, pyramids , a prominent view is that
the Great Pyramid  was built 4500 years ago, by a
co-ordinated effort that boggles the imagination.
And there are those that disagree with this perspective
but it is a hopeful perspective about how diligent a
group of people might be.

Back to perilous, there are quite a few who would agree
that we are currently in perilous times.  Thinking about
this, we have lived through many perilous times, and
a complete list like that would be long.  Nevertheless
I will try to express the situation as I see it.  But I will
not go into a specific description of the situation, but
more or less suggest an analogy that might be
helpful ( or not ... ) .....

Think of two teams that are trying to raise something
from horizontal to vertical.  The object is big and
valuable to both teams.  Now, imagine that they
start out with some kind of plan at the beginning,
but for what ever reason they have stopped
communicating effectively and ( wa la ? ) ,
sure enough, they have got themselves in a
situation which endangers ( perilously ) the object
they are trying to erect.

Now what should they do ?

Right now the choice seems to be " just
pull harder ",,,, and " don't talk " ....
And what ever it is they are trying to erect,
seems to move to a more  frightening the postion
all the time.


What do I suggest.  Well, number one,

APPLY LOGIC ...  !!!!!!

What does this have to do with pyramids ?

Good question,  maybe the pyramids where
built in perilous times.